


What are the Odds

by silmarilz1701



Series: A Tale of Two Heritages [20]
Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: Aldbourne, Episode: s01e04 Replacements, Gen, What are the Odds is a dangerous game, a single mention in my fanfic led to this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:21:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26639479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silmarilz1701/pseuds/silmarilz1701
Summary: "There was only one thing to do. They had to steal the dartboard."Or, an offhand comment about needing a dartboard leads to an ill-fated game of What are the Odds.
Series: A Tale of Two Heritages [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1572553
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	What are the Odds

**Author's Note:**

> This all came about because of a single background moment in A Soldier of No Importance, the first in my duology of Nixon/OC fics. So, this fits in there, but can be read as standalone.

**August 1944**

_Aldbourne, England_

* * *

The dart stuck left of the bullseye. Harry grimaced. To his right, Buck sat at a table alongside Guarnere, Toye, and Luz, all three enjoying beers while they watched Harry attempt darts. Snickers came from Luz and Buck. At least he had one more dart.

Which really didn’t help one bit as it landed even further from his target, much to the amusement of the sergeants and lieutenant. Guarnere and Luz didn’t even try to suppress their laughter. At least Toye had the decency to just snicker into his beer.

Harry let out a sharp breath. After retrieving the darts, he pointed over to them. “You’re up, Compton.”

“Come on, sir, show us how it’s done,” Luz added, giving him a few claps.

While Buck took up the spot Harry vacated, he moved to lean against a wooden pillar. His beer had gone lukewarm from sitting on the table. Still, better than nothing. Harry didn’t usually join Buck in his gambling with the men, but with the next jump already being planned, he’d needed the distraction and the others were in constant briefings.

“Don’t feel bad if you lose, Welshy. You’re in good company,” Buck told him.

Harry looked at him in confusion. But when Guarnere and Luz just started laughing at the table, he turned to face them. Toye looked absolutely murderous. There had to be a story there. Harry would find out what it was later. “Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

The first dart hit just shy of the bullseye. Harry grimaced. When Buck took the time to turn back to him, he refused to give him the satisfaction of his irritation though. With a smile, Harry pushed off from the post. Instead he stood by the board. He took a drink.

“You know what the CP needs?” Guarnere said. “It needs a fucking dartboard.”

Harry just snorted a bit of a laugh. With a smile hidden behind his beer glass, he shook his head. “Where you gonna get one, Guarnere?”

He shrugged. “Fuck if I know, sir. But there’s gotta be one lyin around somewhere.”

The second dart slammed opposite the first one, still outside the bullseye. Harry saw Buck shoot the tiniest frown at the board. With a laugh, he sipped his drink and looked around. It was only mid-morning. They had the bar to themselves except for a couple of small groups from Fox Company.

As he pulled out a cigarette, Luz gestured towards the door. “Think I saw someone selling one a couple days ago.”

“We don’t got the money to buy one, George,” Guarnere muttered.

Buck’s third dart missed the bullseye as well. Harry watched as he tried not to draw attention to the failure. With a laugh, Harry just collected the three from the board. Buck retook his seat.

“George, that grin on your face is never a good sign,” Buck told him.

Luz tried to suppress it. But even with the cigarette in his mouth, it just kept growing. Finally he leaned forward. “What are the odds we just take that one?”

Harry scoffed. “Fifty to one.”

“Yeah, sounds about right,” Buck agreed.

They all paused. Guarnere and Luz broke into grins, Toye just groaned, and Harry and Buck looked at each other. The laughter from the other few groups filled the room. But a silence had fallen over the Easy Company group. The odds had been set.

“Are we doing this?” Buck asked.

Harry wanted to say no. He should’ve said no. They were officers, for fuck’s sake. They couldn’t risk it. But one in fifty were good odds. And the idea of backing down in front of the enlisted didn’t sit well with him. He’d never live it down. “Luz, count us down.”

His grin widened. But he straightened up in his chair, taking the cigarette out of his mouth with a nod. He started the countdown.

“Three.”

Harry looked at Buck. The man still sat in his chair, but the amusement had disappeared.

“Two.”

He figured he looked as serious as the other lieutenant. They couldn’t steal this dart board. Dick would kill them.

“One.”

But there was only a one in fifty chance that they both said the same number-

“Eight.” “Eight.”

Shit.

Harry watched as Buck’s eyes widened. One in fifty... one in fifty and they’d both picked _eight_? Shit! Harry glanced at the dartboard. Then he turned back. The enlisted seemed as shocked as them. Guarnere grinned like an idiot, laughing into his beer. Toye and Luz just looked like they’d seen a ghost.

There was only one thing to do. They had to steal the dartboard.

Glancing around the pub, Harry felt like he was in enemy territory again. The bartender had no idea what had just happened, and that would help. If they could keep him distracted, they could get the dartboard off the wall. Buck’s jacket would fit over it. Luz would have to act as a distraction; the man excelled at such things. Toye could take point, scout ahead...

Harry had not had nearly enough to drink for this.

He moved over to their table. Pulling up a chair, Harry outlined the plan. The men took it seriously, as serious as he’d seen them time and again in Normandy. They could do this. They would do this. They’d gotten through war-torn France. They could steal a dartboard from a quiet pub in Aldbourne.

While Luz left their table to go speak to the bartender, Harry and Buck moved to inspect the dartboard. They realized quickly that it wouldn’t be as hard as they’d imagined; the dartboard itself wasn’t connected to the case around it. If they could get the dartboard off the wall, they could close the doors shut and no one would be the wiser, at least until the next group wanted to have a game.

“How’s it connected, Buck?” Harry asked. He kept his voice low as they stood by the board. Harry kept his back to Buck as the man looked at the mechanisms. “Is it doable?”

“Just a wire on a nail,” Buck told him. “Are they in place?”

Harry nodded. “Yep.”

Guarnere made eye-contact with him. Harry nodded. The two sergeants split, Toye heading to the door and stepping outside, Guarnere joining Luz at the bar. It took only seconds before Guarnere started shouting at Luz for some shit regarding Philadelphia. Harry had to keep from rolling his eyes. Classic Philly move. But it did the trick, as the attention all turned to the fight brewing.

“Go,” Harry hissed.

Buck unhooked the dartboard. At the same moment, Harry threw his jacket over it and then slammed shut the cabinet that had held it. As Guarnere shoved Luz into the bar, Harry just followed Buck to the door. Just a few more steps...

Sun filled their eyes. Toye waited for them by the left of the door. As it shut behind them, he glanced to the crudely hidden contraband. “You got it?”

He tried, he really tried to suppress his grin. But Harry couldn’t. They’d gotten away with it. They’d stolen the dartboard. But as he opened his mouth to reply, the door swung out and Luz and Guarnere were shoved outside.

“Jesus Christ,” snapped Luz. His hand went to his arm.

Guarnere looked way too happy for anything good to have happened. “Fucking pansy,” he teased. “Did I hurt your fucking arm, George?”

“Hey! Cool it,” Buck ordered.

Luz rolled his eyes. He wrestled out a new cigarette, still massaging his arm. But then he broke into a grin as he saw the dartboard. “You got it?”

Harry nodded. “Yep.”

None of them spoke. But there were smiles all around. Before long, they started down the lane towards Easy’s CP, still silent in their pride. Harry took a deep breath. They’d just stolen a dart board. The insanity of it all wasn’t lost on him. But it made him feel better. His nerves over the impending jump calmed. And now they had a dartboard.

“What are the odds that we steal a keg-”

“No.”

“Ah, come on sir!”

But he wouldn’t budge. He had some dignity left, however small. One ill fated game had been enough.


End file.
